Currently, the most widely used techniques for geological surveying, particularly in submarine situations, are seismic methods. These seismic techniques are capable of revealing the structure of the subterranean strata with some accuracy. However, whereas a seismic survey can reveal the location and shape of a potential reservoir, it cannot reveal the nature of the reservoir.
The solution therefore is to drill a borehole into the reservoir. However, the costs involved in drilling an exploration well tend to be in the region of $40M and since the success rate is generally about 1 in 10, this tends to be a very costly exercise.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a system for determining, with greater certainty, the nature of a subterranean reservoir without the need to sink a borehole.
It has been appreciated by the present applicants that while the seismic properties of oil-filled strata and water-filled strata do not differ significantly, their electromagnetic resistivities (permittivities) do differ. Thus, by using an electromagnetic surveying method, these differences can be exploited and the success rate in predicting the nature of a reservoir can be increased significantly. This represents potentially an enormous cost saving. These principles are discussed in International patent application PCT/GB01/00419 (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/123,867), which applications are incorporated herein by reference. The method disclosed in the references referred to immediately above determines the nature of a subterranean reservoir whose approximate geometry and location are known, by applying a time varying electromagnetic field to the strata containing the reservoir; detecting the electromagnetic wave field response; seeking in the wave field response, a component representing a refracted wave from the hydrocarbon layer; and determining the content of the reservoir, based on the presence or absence of a wave component refracted by the hydrocarbon layer. The cited references also contemplate a method for searching for a hydrocarbon containing subterranean reservoir which comprises: applying a time varying electromagnetic field to subterranean strata; detecting the electromagnetic wave field response; seeking, in the wave field response, a component representing a refracted wave; and determining the presence and/or nature of any reservoir identified based on the presence or absence of a wave component refracted by hydrocarbon layer. The cited references also contemplate an apparatus for determining the nature of a subterranean reservoir whose approximate geometry and location are known, or for searching for a hydrocarbon containing subterranean reservoir, the apparatus comprising: means for applying a time varying electromagnetic field to the strata containing the reservoir; means for detecting the electromagnetic wave field response; and means for seeking, in the wave field response, a component representing a refracted wave, thereby enabling the presence and/or nature of a reservoir to be determined.
A refracted wave behaves differently, depending on the nature of the stratum in which it is propagated. In particular, the propagation losses in hydrocarbon stratum are much lower than in a water-bearing stratum while the speed of propagation is much higher. Thus, when an oil-bearing reservoir is present, and an EM field is applied, a strong and rapidly propagated refracted wave can be detected. This may therefore indicate the presence of the reservoir or its nature if its presence is already known.
Electromagnetic surveying techniques in themselves are known. However, they are not widely used in practice. In general, the reservoirs of interest are about 1 km or more below the seabed. In order to carry out electromagnetic surveying as a stand alone technique in these conditions, with any reasonable degree of resolution, short wavelengths are necessary. Unfortunately, such short wavelengths suffer from very high attenuation. Long wavelengths do not provide adequate resolution. For these reasons, seismic techniques are preferred.
However, while longer wavelengths applied by electromagnetic techniques cannot provide sufficient information to provide an accurate indication of the boundaries of the various strata, if the geological structure is already known, they can be used to determine the nature of a particular identified formation, if the possibilities for the nature of that formation have significantly differing electromagnetic characteristics. The resolution is not particularly important and so longer wavelengths which do not suffer from excessive attenuation can be employed.
The resistivity of seawater is about 0.3 ohm-m and that of the overburden beneath the seabed would typically be from 0.3 to 4 ohm-m, for example about 2 ohm-m. However, the resistivity of an oil reservoir is likely to be about 20–300 ohm-m. This large difference can be exploited using the techniques of the present invention.
Typically, the resistivity of a hydrocarbon-bearing formation will be 20 to 300 times greater than water-bearing formation.
Due to the different electromagnetic properties of a gas/oil bearing formation and a water bearing formation, one can expect a reflection and refraction of the transmitted field at the boundary of a gas/oil bearing formation. However, the similarity between the properties of the overburden and a reservoir containing water means that no reflection or refraction is likely to occur.